The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services and methods for securing personal database information, including, but not limited to, called or calling telephone numbers, in wireless cellular telephone and personal communication systems. More specifically, this invention relates to a method for the transfer and securing of such personal database information from the subscriber""s mobile terminal or handset to a remote storage device as an undirected act during the operation of a wireless cellular and a personal communication system.
The wireless cellular telephone or personal communication system subscriber""s mobile terminal or handset has the capability of storing and retrieving the last and frequently called telephone numbers or other personal database information. The failure of the handset device to operate, its loss or theft would cause an inconvenience with the concomitant loss of this personal database information. The possibility of this loss and the limited internal personal database storage capabilities of the handset device has prompted the appearance of personal information management of this data using a personal computer in one implementation (FoneSynCTM, Paragon Software (Developments) Limited, TM 75-554277).
This method requires a wired connection via a cable or a local short-range wireless connection from the handset device to a personal computer and a directed act to initiate the transfer and securing of such information. If such a transfer were not directed to occur, then any personal database information would not be secured. The transfer can be hindered, even if directed to occur, by the out-of-range positioning of the local wireless connection, the process unavailability of the personal computer, or other impediments to the storage of information.
The remote storage of system database information occurs in wireless cellular and personal communication systems. Telecommunication service providers maintain a system database containing information about the users of wireless communication devices to manage the availability of such subscription services as call forwarding, selective call acceptance, and paging alert reminder.
A personal information manager for updating a telecommunication subscriber system database is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,778 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Providing Telecommunication Services Based on a Subscriber Profile Updated by a Personal Information Manager.xe2x80x9d The method described therein to generate a subscriber system database update begins by a directed act of the subscriber in entering schedule data and profile requests into the personal information manager. The stored system database and personal database contain disjoint information as the system database has utility only for the telecommunication service provider.
The transfer of personal voice data from a handset device is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,824 entitled xe2x80x9cCellular Phone Voice Recorderxe2x80x9d. A technique for recording voice to a remote storage device of the telecommunication system using the subscriber""s mobile terminal is described. A directed act of the subscriber causes the transfer of the voice recording from the local subscriber mobile terminal or handset to the remote storage device.
Notwithstanding the above mentioned prior art devices, no method is known for securing personal database information from the subscriber""s mobile terminal or handset in a wireless cellular and personal communication systems with an undirected act.
The principal object of the present invention is to secure personal database information in cellular and personal communication systems.
It is also an object of the present invention to secure such personal database information from the subscriber""s mobile terminal or handset as an undirected act during the operation of the wireless cellular and personal communication system.
These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention by providing a wireless cellular and personal communication system and a remote personal database storage device. In a preferred embodiment, the personal database information contained within the subscriber""s mobile terminal or handset is interrogated during the initial phase of an outgoing or incoming wireless telephone call to ascertain if there have been changes made to the personal database. The interrogation is an undirected act on the part of the subscriber and is a service provided by the telecommunication service provider in one embodiment.
The interrogation is accomplished by techniques well known in the art of database management, including, but not limited to, the technique of a calculated numerical value that uniquely identifies the database information, known as a checksum. The checksum for the personal database contained in the handset is compared with the calculated check sum for the remote personal database.
The comparison of a single check sum can be used in one embodiment to indicate if changes have been made to the entire database. If the indications are that changes have been made, then checksums for the separate parts of the personal database can be calculated and compared to the checksums for the separate parts of the remote personal database. In this manner, an efficient search and determination of what changes have made to a personal database can be ascertained as is well known in the art of database management. The part or parts of the personal database information contained in the subscribers mobile terminal that have been changed are then transmitted to the remote personal database storage device.
The personal database information can be described as, but not limited to, called or calling telephone numbers in wireless cellular telephony; calendars; schedules and appointments; Universal Resource Locators (URL) for the Internet which includes both the applicable data protocol and the domain name or Internet Protocol (IP) address; sections of remote databases to which the subscribers have access and authority, such as, but not limited to, financial and stock transactions and travel and lodging reservations; process control and automation information, such as, but not limited to, home and office security access and alarms and environmental controls; voice; text; and numerical paging messages.